The Treasure Unseen
by CTCnNULF
Summary: It's simple. Whoever finds the most pieces gets to keep it.Unfortunately for them, "it" might not be what they assumed...Knouge. Collaboration NexustehULF0o and CherrleTheChicken.
1. What Felt Like Routine

**Title: The Treasure Unseen **

**Authors: NexustehULF0o and CherrletheChicken**

**Description: ****It's simple. Whoever finds the most pieces gets to keep for them, "it" might not be what they assumed...Knouge. Collaboration NexustehULF0o and CherrleTheChicken.**

**Rating:T

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**DISCLAIMER: KNUCKLES, ROUGE, AND ALL OTHER CHARACTERS MENTIONED IN THIS FANFICTION ARE THE SOLE PROPERTY OF SEGA. NO OWNERSHIP.

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**Nexus: Me and Cherrle are collaborating! :D KNOUGE KNOUGE KNOUGE! :3 Enjoy lots!

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**Chapter One: What Felt Like Routine…**

The end of the day was nearing, and with it came birds chirping idly as well as a soft autumn breeze dusting the ground. The normally blue sky began to burst into shades of magenta and tangerine as the sun fell lower and lower toward the horizon, before hiding beneath it all too soon. The birds silenced their chatter and cuddled close to their nests, the wind beginning to slightly rock the trees back and forth in a pattern similar to the slow tick of a metronome.

Knuckles the echidna couldn't really say what made him notice all these seemingly irrelevant things, but nonetheless, he loved that twilit time. Just before sundown, when the day is almost through – not that he would be doing anything really different tomorrow. He reclined against one of the strong pillars of the altar of the Master Emerald, placing his gloved hands behind his head before heaving a heavy sigh. _Another day passed, another day ahead, _he thought reflectively.

Knuckles couldn't really say that he would choose to live his life sitting on an altar all day and night, guarding something precious and ancient to his people. Dare he say it, he would rather live like Sonic – going wherever he wanted, seeing everything there was to see, meeting and knowing people along the way…growing as a person. He smirked and slid his eyes closed. He would love to try _that _one day.

Angel Island was a beautiful place, and he loved it, but he couldn't help but think that he was locked on the island by his destiny – figurative ball, chain, and all. Nothing ever happened there that had never happened before, and it was all beginning to bore him, because the truth was, Knuckles couldn't stand routine.

The stars were out now – a time that Knuckles liked significantly less than a few hours before it. Echidnas could not see well in the dark, which made the Master Emerald highly vulnerable to people who might try to steal it.

Oh, that's right.

As of late, a certain thieving white bat had been a large thorn in the echidna's side. She would sneak onto the island, unseen and unheard by anyone or anything, and slowly make her way to the altar, avoiding or defeating anything that might get in between her and the same Emerald Knuckles had sworn to keep safe. There, she would lie in wait until late at night, when she thought he would be sleeping, and try lift the Emerald away while he had his back turned…until…

"You!"

Knuckles lunged upward, digging the pointed ends of his fists into the stone ceiling of the altar of the Master Emerald.

"Gah!" Rouge cried, taken aback by Knuckles sudden attempt to attack her. She swayed back and forth, trying to maintain her balance with such a large item in her hands…she could feel it slipping from her fingertips…

Both Knuckles and Rouge watched in horror as the Master Emerald dropped to the ground, shattering into a million pieces with an unharmonious crash. The shards flew every which way, only a few slivers remaining on the hard floor below.

A slow moment passed as the both of them came to terms with what happened, both reminded of the moments during their first meeting…until they faded in the face of rage.

"What the _hell_'re you doing on my island, bat-girl?" Knuckles turned and glared at the thief, who had regained her balance and was now floating in midair. Upon hearing the echidna, her head shot up angrily, teeth grit.

"Just taking what's mine." She spat, placing both hands on her hips. "Until you _had_ to get in the way. How rude of you."

He scoffed, pulling his spikes out of the stone and falling to the floor below. He slowly bent over, collecting the remaining pieces of the Emerald and placing them in a pouch in his side.

"I think I remember you saying you were going to give up treasure hunting…" He reminisced, looking up at her lithe form hovering above him. " 'Too much work for too little pay'. Isn't that what you said?"

Rouge lowered herself to the ground, folding her arms across her chest as she slowly began to circle the red echidna like prey.

"Consider it a 'last hurrah' before I quit." She conned smoothly before frowning and stopping in place. She turned to look over the island, and then sighed. "But now that you had to break it, I suppose that I'll have to go and find all the pieces…"

"Oh no, you don't." Knuckles turned, irritated. "_I'll _be finding those shards. It's my duty as Guardian to keep the Emerald safe."

"Oh, I'll be sure to keep it safe," Rouge assured him. "I won't let anything happen to it when it's in my possession."

"Too bad it'll never get the chance to be in 'your possession.'" The echidna argued. "You're not taking it, Rouge. I'll get those pieces."

"Oh, you will, will you?" She asked slyly, smiling devilishly before drawing close to Knuckles. "We'll just see about that…I've got a proposition for you. A…challenge, if you will."

His interest was held. "Wh…What kind of challenge?" He looked over at her from the corner of his eye, only to find her absent.

"Simple. A treasure hunt. Obtain all the pieces of the Emerald and you keep it." Rouge explained, her voice suddenly closer to him.

Knuckles growled.

"Come on, Knuckles…" she crooned, leaning over in the direction of his ear. "…For old times' sake?"

It was a good thing that it was pitch dark or that stupid bat would have seen the dark red blush shoot right across his face.

"Er…" he muttered, looking down for a moment. "Uh…well –" he regained his bearings – " It's not like if I don't accept, then you won't look for them, so…" he told her sternly. Rouge simply laughed.

"So I'll take that as a yes, then." She managed between malicious sinckers, "Haha, if so, you might want to get an early start – bats can see perfectly at night, and I'm not tired a bit…"

"Hey, wait now, Rouge, can't we just settle this in the – " Knuckles turned around.

She was gone.

"…morning?" He called to no one.

So much for sleeping, then.

Knuckles sighed – he would never understand her, or her fascination with the Master Emerald. Oh well, at least he had a few pieces, he thought, reaching for the small pouch at his side. He had a head start whereas she had –

The pouch…he was sure he had it on his person…and he put the shards in it…and now…

He mentally fumed.

"Damn bat." He muttered.


	2. Two Can Play at This Game

**Title: The Treasure Unseen**

**Authors: NexustehULF0o and CherrleTheChicken

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**Disclaimer: Knuckles, Rouge and any other characters that decided to invade and show their ugly mugs in this fic belong to SEGA ^^. So does the Master Emerald. Actually, that belongs to Knuckles. But he belongs to SEGA. Basically, we own none of it xP.

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**Cherrle: HEY HEY HEY GUYS. If you didn't already know (which you kinda should since you read the first chapter already…) Nexus and I are collab-ing. KNOUGENESS. Enjoy-eth.

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**Chapter Two: Two Can Play At This Game**

She'd always loved the night; it was the perfect cloak, and a beautiful one at that. Of course, it helped being a bat and all.  
Rouge flew lazily through the skies, which, on this particular night, seemed unusually bright. The moon was full and every single star glittered like a thousand jewels. As of yet, she hadn't found any more pieces of the Emerald. Truly, she hadn't been trying too hard. She knew echidna's could not see well in the dark (or in space for that matter), and already had a head start. Idiot hadn't even noticed her taking the pouch. He'd been too busy blushing, which she had so seen, despite the darkness.  
She had briefly considered resting for the night and heading out at the crack of dawn. She was wide awake, but one could never be too sure of what lay ahead and maybe a full night's rest would refresh her for the journey she was sure to face. The idea had been quickly vanquished though; if she'd learned just one thing aboard that godforsaken Ark it was that a certain echidna should not be underestimated when a certain Emerald was concerned.  
Instead she contented herself with slowly flying through the night above the island. Surely, a significant amount of Emerald shards would have fallen on the floating island?

If she was honest, Rouge had completely forgotten her motives for stealing the gem. It was always irritating to get so close… Only to have it take away again. That echidna never gave up, did he? He annoyed her to no end. Lasers, alarms, glass cases, human guards armed with guns… She could handle that. They were all easy to get by. Too easy. Surely, just one guardian should have been even easier? She was a fool to not have realized what happened when you put yourself between a Knucklehead and his Emerald.  
And besides, green had always been near the bottom of her favourite colours list and because of this she was rarely attracted to green jewels. But something, something kept pulling her back. Something that gnawed at her chest constantly. And she felt obliged to attempt to steal the emerald. Despite never being too keen on green.  
Quite recently, she had found herself attracted to the color purple. Seemingly, there was no particular reason for this. In fact, she had only had the sudden change of mind since she had departed the vessel that had brought the so called 'Heroes' back to Earth from that old, dusty place they called the Ark. What a strange change of mind…

Never before had she realized how beautiful the island actually was. The trees all seemed tropical, an assorted variety of fruits growing among the leaves. How odd for a place floating near such a place that polluted so much. No vehicles, no humans… Completely and utterly peaceful. Seemed like a nice destination for holidays or such.

A green glitter caught her eye, unusual for such a time of night. Normally, she would have flown on by, but no other jewel could catch a small amount of moonlight and reflect it so much and so far into the skies.  
Slowing, she dove through the trees to land silently on the lush, tall grass of the forests of Angel Island. The leaves ruffled slightly in the breeze, although mostly the clearing was silent. All birds were safely tucked into their nests for the night and only God knew where the sole inhabitant of the island resided that second…

Scanning the clearing, the same glittering caught the corner of her gaze.

Bingo.

She smiled as the single word crossed her mind, slowly making her way towards the shard. It's not like there wasn't time to waste; no way could that echidna have been anywhere nearby. The fool would have made too much noise and alerted her to his whereabouts.

Which was exactly when the figure noisily half-fell, half-jumped out of the tree.

Taken completely by surprise, the bat involuntarily sprang backwards a few paces. Quickly, she regained composure although apparently it was not quickly enough. She was aware of a vibrant red flash past her before loudly springing onto one of the trees. Quick as a flash, Knuckles dug his fists into the palm tree, racing upwards to gain height before gliding between trees, shard in hands, leaving just one thing behind. Words, spoken quickly.

"Two can play at this game."

Rouge could have followed him. She could have easily caught him up; her flying speed was much superior to his gliding. She could have knocked him out of one of the trees, stolen the shard and melted into the night before he could even catch his breath.

Instead, she stood where she was, smile creeping over her muzzle.

"Oh, it is on echidna."


	3. A Threatening Confrontation

**Title: The Treasure Unseen**

**Authors: NexustehULF0o and CherrleTheChicken

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**DISCLAIMER: DO NOT OWN. The end.

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**Nexus: LOL Sorry for uploading when we already completed three chapters! We couldn't think of a name to save our lives. XD But, as you can see, here we are! The Treasure Unseen: Chapter Three! :D Enjoyfullness!

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**Chapter Three: A Threatening Confrontation**

Knuckles turned before landing safely on a cliff top, folding his arms across his chest while scanning the dark area. Luckily for him, the rest of the island was considerably well lit with a full moon hanging high overhead. He still couldn't see worth barely anything, but when he flew through the air, pieces of the Master Emerald almost…called to him.

The night was nice and breezy, and Knuckles' acute sense of smell could almost pick up the wafting scent of her perfume over on the right corner of the island. He thought he'd gotten so used to that scent…but every time she would come around, that would be the first thing he'd notice. A bit of citrus…peach…occasionally a hint of jasmine would –

Wha-? What was he thinking? Come on! He has more important things to do than just sit around huffing in her perfume and analyzing it! If he was ever gonna find those pieces of the Master Emerald, he was going to have to keep at it!

Before he could encourage himself further, Knuckles drew in a large breath, breathing out an even larger yawn. It was late. If he were going to be in any kind of form to find those shards, he would need to sleep at some point. And if he knew anything about bats, it was that they were nocturnal, so Rouge would be at a large disadvantage in the daytime. That would mean that _he _would be free to roam without her bothering him. After all, she _did _have to sleep sometime too. And when she did, he'd be ready. As much as he hated the thought of her finding the pieces without him being there to take them back from her, it was the most logical explanation.

With that, the echidna leaned back, stealing one more breath before kicking off the cliff's edge with one foot. He spread his arms wide and spiraled toward the ground, only to straighten out and catch the ever-whispering wind on the island underneath his dreadlocks. He quickly found a dark empty cave on the side of another cliff to sleep in for the remainder of the night, and upon settling into a sit against one of its stone walls, soon drifted into a restless and uneasy sleep.

The dawn broke before Knuckles could sleep for too long. The red echidna trained himself to rise with the sun in order to consciously protect the Master Emerald for as long as he could, so when the sun peeked over the horizon, his eyelids fluttered open, uncrossing him arms from around his chest before standing and relinquishing a tire-ridding stretch. Glancing around warily, Knuckles stepped quietly to the mouth of the cave, watching the sun slowly rise and the birds welcome it accordingly.

He momentarily wondered how many pieces she'd found during the night. She would be just settling into sleep right now…he wondered if she was still on the island. If she wasn't, that meant that she'd probably found all the emerald pieces on the island. That would also mean that he'd have to find _her. _He cringed at that thought – she'd probably accuse him of _stalking her _or something…a topic he wouldn't be too keen about keeping his temper under.

_Tip. Tip. Tip. Tip. _

Something was behind him, he thought. There were all kinds of animals on the island – he probably disturbed the dwelling of some kind of bear or a wolf or something…He contemplated turning and fighting until he remembered that he needed to find the emerald shards more than anything. Any second used to fight some animal would be a second less he could be using to get ahead of Rouge.

So run, then.

His legs didn't move. Knuckles the Echidna didn't run. And be accused of being a wuss? He didn't think so. Shards or no shards, he had a reputation to keep.

The steps stopped, thus snapping him out of his thoughts.

He waited.

"Fancy meeting you here." The voice was unmistakably smooth as silk. He cringed again before swirling around.

"Aren't you supposed to be sleeping…?" He asked, teeth grit.

"Well…" The bat smirked coolly for him, folding her arms across her chest. "I don't need sleep– especially not when I know I'll be sleeping so much better when that Emerald's mine." She placed a hand to the side of her face and chuckled.

A low growl escaped Knuckles throat. "Dream on." He mumbled angrily.

She simply laughed, shaking her head.

"I think you were the one that was dreaming." Rouge smiled devilishly, pointing in his direction. "Did you enjoy your nap…? Because while you were catching up on your beauty sleep, I was out taking care of business." She held up a pack, swishing it back and forth to hear the pieces of the jewel knock against each other.

"Hah, yeah, you think you've won. But the truth is, you'll have to sleep at one point, bat-girl, and when you do, I'll be out collecting - maybe even from that bag. So you just wait, we'll get even. I swear." He snarled, watching her slowly step toward him.

She stopped when she was standing right in front of him, watching the fuming red echidna with playful turquoise pupils. She cutely cocked her head at him, the smile widening on one corner of her mouth.

"We'll just have to see about that." She told him, the end of her sentence cut off by a sharp 'ping' noise at her side.

She turned to look at the device that made the noise for a split second, then saluting farewell with two fingers. The bat took off without another word.

Knuckles was puzzled by her last few words. He unconsciously grabbed at his own little pack that he'd carefully stuffed the amount of shards he'd obtained in, feeling them jostling around as he moved the bag around.

He nodded. "Good." He said, watching her become smaller and smaller in his vision.

She wasn't as good of a thief as she thought she was. Regardless, he would never understand Rouge the Bat, no matter how hard he tried.

He looked at the rising sun once more, squinting at the brightness in his eyes.

It was sure as hell going to be a long day.


	4. A Not So Unexpected Encounter

**Title: The Treasure Unseen**

**Authors: NexustehULF0o and CherrleTheChicken**

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**DISCLAIMER: ****They belong to... SEGA probably. I mean, if I owned them then there would be no need for this fic; it'd be a game already and Knouge would be a canon couple XD.**

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**Cherrle: HI. I'M SORRY THIS HAS TAKEN SO LONG. BUT IT'S HERE. YAYYY. Let's go go go! Enjoy XD.**

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**Chapter Four: A Not-So Unexpected Encounter**

Knuckles walked quickly around the perimeter of Station Square for the second time that hour. He could sense that the emerald shards were somewhere near but couldn't find them anywhere.

A slight autumn breeze was swirling the newly-fallen leaves around his designated path and slightly ruffling his long dreadlocks. The few flowers and weeds were dotted through the long grass that brushed against him, tickling the bottom of his legs.

Fatigue was beginning to creep into his limbs but he ignored it, pushing onwards. He was _not _going to lose.

As soon as he had exited the cave in which he had spent the short time sleeping, he had realised that there were no longer any emerald shards on the somewhat desolate island. This was generally a bad thing; the island was much smaller and therefore easier to search for the emerald than the rest of this world and he knew it like the back of his hand, giving him an upper hand.

It also meant that _she _had more shards than he did, and he hated her being better than him in anything.

Sighing and glancing around once more, he pressed forwards.

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For Sonic, the day had been pretty normal. His best buddy and practically adopted brother, Miles or better known as Tails, had suggested scoping out the area to see if the unusually quite Eggman had yet risen. It was then that they had found the two shards and taken a slight detour to find the guardian who owned them.

"Sonic! Over there!" Tails exclaimed, pointing in the direction of a large oak tree. Underneath, the scarlet guardian was seemingly searching for something.

"Hey, Knux!" The cobalt hedgehog called, dashing over to where his friend was standing.

"What do you think you're- Oh. It's you."

"Gee, thanks for the warm welcome."

The guardian grunted.

"What do you want, Sonic? I'm busy."

"What, looking under leaves?"

The guardian growled, about to retort back before the two-tailed fox cut in, stopping the two from an all out fight.

"Knuckles, look what we found!"

He held out the two shards, seeing the guardian's eyes widen in surprise before grabbing just one of the shards and quickly inspecting it before placing it in a pouch. Before Tails could tell him that he had only grabbed one, Sonic interrupted.

"You let the emerald break _again_?" Sonic asked, a small mischievous smile creeping onto his face.

Knuckles' eyes slit.

"I didn't _let _anything break!"

"Then... How did it happen?"

Knuckles opened his mouth to explain, memories flooding is mind. The way she had whispered into his ear... The silkiness of her voice... Her warmth... Her body had been so close to his...

The beginnings of a blush crossed his face before he cleared his throat.

"Why do you want to know? It's none of your business! I don't have time for this; I've got to find those shards…" He retorted a little too quickly, mumbling the last sentence before turning and running in the opposite direction.

Tails was left holing one single shard in hand, confused.

Both fox and hedgehog turned towards each other, the same knowing expression on both faces and uttered simultaneously the one and only word that could explain the situation.

"Rouge."

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The bat circled the city before landing softly on its boundary. The sensor indicated that an emerald shard was nearby... But where?

Keen eyes and ears detecting the brothers from a while away, she took cover behind a tree, waiting for the two to walk by.

"... I'm not sure, Sonic. I think we should stay out of this one."

Deciding that whatever the two were talking about was probably very unimportant, she took the chance to reveal herself.

"Hello, boys."

"Hey Rouge."

Slight confusion clouded her mind; they didn't seem at all surprised to see her. She was distracted though; she _knew _they had that shard.

"My my, Big Blue, you seem to have something there. May I...take a look?"

The young fox hesitated for a second; it was obvious that he had the shard.

"Well, surely they be-"

"Sure. Here ya go, Rouge."

The Blue Blur grabbed the shard from his brother and, with a smile, tossed it over to the female.

"But-" The orange fox attempted to protect his friend's relic.

"Well, isn't this gorgeous. Why, thank you Blue; I guess we'll be seeing each other around, eh?"

She studied the shard for a second before lifting into the air. She smiled her usual sly smile before throwing the hedgehog a wink and flying in the same direction the echidna had gone not fifteen minutes ago.

Sonic smiled back, returning the wink as his brother sighed.

"What?"

"Why'd you give her Knuckles' emerald?"

He shrugged.

"It'd be good to see things... _heating _up between them."

The fox sighed once more before walking quickly off, murmuring, "You're just lucky Amy wasn't there to see that."

"Hey! Whaazat s'posed to mean? Tails!" The Blue Blur glanced towards the direction of the hunters before calling out.

Sonic dashed after his brother, catching up to him in no more than half a second.

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**Cherrle: Are those sly hints that Cherrle is dropping into the chapter? Or just a fortunate wording of... Words? Meh, whatever. SOOORRRYYY my chapters keep being shorter than Nexus'... I'm not sure why :S. SEE YA'LL IN CHAPTER SIX XD.**


	5. There's More Than One Kind of Falling

**Title: The Treasure Unseen  
Authors: NexustehULF0o and CherrleTheChicken**

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**DISCLAIMER: THERE IS NO OWNING OF ANYTHING HERE.

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**Nexus: All right! Here's chapter five! Enjoy!**

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**Chapter Five: There's More than One Kind of Falling**

Rouge the Bat peered over the side of the large cliff before kicking a stray pebble over the edge. It fell and fell until she could no longer see it, but she most acutely heard its final plunge into the water below a minute after.

She pulled out her radar once more, listening to the faint beeping noise it emitted, as well as watching the slow green blink that occurred simultaneously. There was a piece of the Emerald nearby; no doubt about that. But the only way to go was down – could that mean…?

She looked over the edge of the cliff once more upon hearing a large, choppy wave break upon it.

She wondered if that echidna had even thought to look anywhere beside the island yet. Knowing him, he was still roaming the place, looking for any speck of emerald dust that he sensed floating through the air. Pfff, what an idiot. Strutting around like he… like he owned the emerald.

But the truth was, Rouge knew he did.

Then why…? Why was it that even though everything brought her AGAINST stealing it, she kept doing it?

Her right ear twitched, picking up something rustling in the bushes behind her. Speak of the devil? It's couldn't be. Last time she saw him, he was just waking up from a peaceful little slumber outside of a little cave – and that had been a few days ago. He was so cute in his confusion – being all rambunctious and riling himself up…

She shook her head. She DEFINITELY had more important things to be worrying about. The rhythmic beeping of the radar kept playing in the back of her mind.

Once more she listened for a rustle in the background, but there was none. She heaved a sigh. She was probably just imagining it, anyway.

The bat slowly began to flap her wings and rose, flying carefully over the edge of the cliff. With that, she dove down until she was inches from the deep, choppy waves.

The beeps had become sharper and faster the closer she got to the water.

"It's gotta be close." She muttered to herself, whipping out her radar and watching it pinpoint her as well as the emerald's location.

A high-pitched whistle caused her to look up, and swirl in the direction the noise was coming from.

Suddenly, she was falling – she tried to flap her wings, but she didn't rise any higher. She hit the water before catching her breath, causing her to inhale water through her lungs.

What should she do? Her head was spinning and she could no longer breathe…the water around her was murky and opaque, not to mention that her sight was fading due to lack of oxygen. Rouge futilely attempted to fold in her wings, a stinging, throbbing pain searing up her back every single time she tried – with her last bits of strength, she tried to swim up toward the surface, which seemed further and further away with every frantic stroke she took. The waves pushed her downward and she took in another breath, salty water filling her lungs in place of air. Her vision continued to blur – she was out of time.

To be taken down by something so easily avoidable; she never thought that she would go like this.

But then again, she thought she would die on that meteor in outer space too – and look how that turned out.

That was then, though. This was most certainly NOT the same situation. Not when she had started the hunt for the shards. Not when she had been the one to rekindle their awkward relationship and remind him why he disliked her so much.

She regretted laughing at Knuckles for probably still being on the island. If only he were here now…God knew no one else was going to save her.

Something glinted out of the corner of her eye, causing her to look over.

The Emerald shard?

_A little late to be thinking about that, aren't we? _She thought, smirking to herself. She shut her eyes peacefully and let the water drag her further down, listening to the beeping of her radar become frazzled and filled with static as her hearing faded away.

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She awoke suddenly, heaving in air before coughing violently.

Rouge sprung to a sitting position, glancing around frantically as if it were the only thing she could do. There were trees and bushes all around her, and she was lying on a rock slab that was smooth like marble. She looked up and saw the cliff she had flown off of – she'd…she'd thought she was going to drown…

Oh yeah, that. She was drenched. A drowned _bat, _as it were.

Standing, Rouge took the radar out of her pocket and shook it. Water sloshed around the inside, and she thought she heard a small _zzzt _emit from it.

Well, so much for that.

Rouge reared her arm back, looking to toss the item into the ocean, when a sharp pain seared up her back. She cringed before turning slowly, carefully opening her right wing. It had been bandaged, albeit badly. She smirked to herself, lowering the waterlogged machine.

She turned away from the body of water, kicking something with the toe of her boot. A large stone slid across the rock slab, slowing to a stop around a group of sticks. She stepped forwards, looking over them with a curious eye.

Her smirk grew wider when she noticed that they formed strange, sloppily-crafted words.

_DON'T DIE. _

She placed a gloved hand to her cheek, shaking her head a little.

Stupid echidna, being all noble…she almost was flattered.

Almost.

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Knuckles ran as fast as he could away from the cliff, looking back occasionally to see if she was following him.

It wasn't like he had been following her or anything. He heard a loud noise, and when he saw her in the water, he had to save her. So he dove in after her and carried her to shore, almost losing all of his own air. And he waited there until she started coughing and sputtering.

He knew that if he let her see that he'd saved her again, he'd been in deep trouble. Not only with her, but with himself too. And he couldn't deal with that.

So what could he do but run? Normally Knuckles wouldn't _dream _of doing such a thing but God knew that when Rouge was in the picture, he did a LOT of things he normally wouldn't.

And the Emerald. He'd almost considered letting her keep it. After all, she did find it first… But then he remembered her stealing his pieces a few days ago.

He smiled, slowing his pace.

Fair is fair, after all.

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**Nexus: I'm thinking that things are gonna start getting rolling here soon. :D ANYWAY TAKE IT AWAY CHERRLE! XD**


	6. Lost Can Mean One of Two Things

**Title: The Treasure Unseen**

**Authors: NexustehULF0o and CherrleTheChicken**

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DEESSSCCLLAAIMMEEER: Owning? Pfft, I wish.

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**Cherrle: I'm sick today D:. So I decided while I have the time I'd do my homework! No, kidding, I'll write this instead. Enjoy :B - Nerd face. **

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I could be mean.

**I could be angry.**

**You know I could be just like you. – 'Just Like You', Three Days Grace. **

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**Chapter 6: Lost Can Mean One of Two Things.**

Knuckles sighed. Once again, he'd risk just about everything he had just to save her. Wouldn't be the first time.

In reflection, it would have been easier, both times, to just let her fail. Nobody else would come after his emerald, nobody else would fight with him and he'd lead a generally peaceful life.

As soon as the thought had creeped into his head, it had been shot down. No matter what happened, he couldn't do that to _**anyone**__. _At least not purposely.

And besides, even thinking about something happening to her made him... Sick. Literally. His stomach would knot up.

Maybe it was the fact that she never, ever surrendered. She wasn't weak like the other girls he knew (albeit he didn't know many other girls) and she could _always _take care of herself. So to see her so helpless... It just wasn't right. If Rouge was anything, it was strong.

Maybe it was the fact he was just a good person. True, he was rough and he had no problem hitting a girl but... Like it or not he was a hero. That was one thing he knew about himself and he didn't want to lose that.

Whatever the reason he'd done it and he didn't regret it.

That fact didn't stop him from being confused though.

Knuckles wasn't sure why but despite the fact that he wanted to make a quick getaway, he also wanted to make sure that she knew it was _him _that had saved her.

The happiness it brought him to see her splutter back into life was worth it though.

Knuckles had been too lost in thought to notice the shard at his feet, leaving him to tumble head over heels down the hill he had been walking down and fall face first into the long grass, dirt and grass stains smearing his face and gloves.

Angrily rubbing at is face, he stormed back up the hill to see what had _dared _trip the faithful guardian.

Even when she wasn't there, she _still_ distracted him from his duty. How was that fair?

His heart fluttered a little in relief as he realised that the object he had tripped on was in fact a glowing green shard of his precious emerald.

Stooping to pick the gem up, he noticed the loop of a rope lying almost directly before the shard, hanging from one of the broad branches of a massive oak tree...

... Exactly where he had almost been about to step...

...As if someone had placed it there just to catch him.

Angrily, he shook the idle thought from his mind.

_Preposterous. Why would anybody want to catch me? It was probably just some kids playing infantile practical jokes on one another._

_Or Sonic._

_That's more likely. Probably some plan to catch Tails and force some kind of nonsensical information out of him, something that really wasn't important; like who he was crushing on or where he'd hidden the idiot's recipe for chilli dogs._

_In fact, it was probably Amy laying a trap for the idiot in hopes of finally catching her one true obsession- erm... Love._

Nevertheless, Knuckles activated the trap with a nearby stick. Never know; he might actually _need _Sonic one day and what use would he be if he was being chained up by the obsessive fangirl?

Yeah, and one day _pigs_ would fly.

Clutching his hand around the emerald piece he dusted the last of the grass from his fur and stretched into a massive yawn.

He hadn't quite realised how tired he was and the unexpected swimming he'd had to do definitely hadn't helped.

The sun was just setting, the sky changing colour quicker than a fish out of water and the birds finally stopping their idle tweeting for the day.

Knuckles needed sleep. Slowly, he wandered through the long stalks, burrs and seeds clinging to his fur, until he reached a lone sycamore tree.

He really hated to think about being out of the game for hours at a time, but he knew he would be no use if he was a sleep-deprived zombie. And besides, she probably _still_ hadn't slept yet; if he was fully refreshed he might have the upper hand.

Anyway, she was used to sleeping in the comfort of a bed; he was lucky enough to be able to settle peacefully anywhere, something only a _true _treasure hunter could do.

Brushing any clinging seeds from his fur, he hoisted himself onto a strong-looking branch before stretching out and settling down, pouch hugged tightly to chest.

He wasn't taking any chances.

If she snuck up on him, he'd be prepared.

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Sorry, I know this is short but I was just like... Yeah. Couldn't think of anything else.

**And before you say anything, of **_**course **_**fish turn different colours when their out of water... Pshh... Who **_**doesn't **_**know that?...**

**Okay, shut up. They MIGHT do?**

**And I know echidnas don't sleep in trees. They also don't walk on two legs, speak, eat grapes, guard enormous emeralds, wear shoes, have spiky fists or fall in love with white bats... Plus they're not like bright red and don't have purple eyes, so I think I'm justified in having him sleep in a tree ^^.**

**Ugh... You can probably tell... I am **_**so **_**out of it...**

**Stoopid virus. I'll stop talking now and let Nexus write something. TAYKE EET AWAII.**

**P.S KnuxXJulie. Ughh.**


	7. And So the Plot Thickens

**Title: The Treasure Unseen**

**Authors: NexustehULF0o and CherrleTheChicken**

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**DISCLAIMER: CHERRLE AND I DO NOT OWN ANYTHING. EXCEPT FOR THE PACK. EVERYTHING ELSE IS COPYRIGHT SEGA.**

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**Nexus: I'm so sorryyyyyyy~ I've been so busy lately. I've had NO time. But here it is! :D Forgive me?**

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**Chapter Seven: And So the Plot Thickens**

Night fell quickly that day.

Rouge, to tell the honest truth, couldn't have been happier to finally rest. She hadn't really slept in days due to her severe, unexplainable want to defeat her dreadlocked opposition.

But she'd almost drowned today. That could possibly be considered an excuse.

She was still occasionally coughing, salty ocean water sloshing into the back of her throat and causing her to grimace. She was unnaturally exhausted – even on her most busy of days, ones where she would come close to dying countless times, she wasn't this utterly spent. She'd pulled out a lighter from her back pocket and tried to light a group of sticks, only to realize that all items on her person were drenched in seawater. So Rouge made due with what she had. Rubbing those two sticks together and actually causing a spark was a lucky break on her part. She had slumped against a tree when the fire started going, watching the black, billowy smoke puff into existence until it emulsified into the air. Her eyelids eventually began drooping until they completely slid over her pupils, and she took in air slowly and deeply…The wind blew softly, rustling the leaves to one side of her as the light throbbing of her injured wing lulled her off to sleep…

…

Her head, without warning, snapped upward. Her eyelids shot open and her turquoise pupils shifted to the left.

She was not alone.

Rouge stood slowly and silently, perking up her keen bat ears in order to possibly hear what had startled her out of her exhausted daze. Could it be…the echidna again? It sure didn't sound like him…but then again, her tire might have caused her to senses to temporarily dull.

Well, whomever she heard, she was ready for them.

A deep, whispering wind rushed by her ears at that moment, whistling noisily and drowning out all other attainable noise. She listened desperately for it again, but the wind continued blowing restlessly into her ears, keeping her from deciphering anything but it – she was temporarily deafened. Rouge shut her eyes tightly and tried to concentrate on her surroundings…

The wind died for a split second.

Now was her chance.

She quickly swirled around, thrusting out her steel-toed boot. It connected with the head of the intruder with an abrupt _smack. _

The force of the surprise attack sent the stranger sprawling onto their back with a heavy "Oof!"

The GUN agent studied them quickly – a young raccoon, possibly the same age as she was, if not a bit younger – male, skinny, bespectacled, gothic-looking– he outwardly appeared, not unlike almost every other raccoon she'd ever encountered, devious and troublesome. She made a mental note of his matted fur, patched tail, and baggy, ripped clothing.

Forget devious and troublesome, she corrected herself. He looked downright mean.

She gathered her thoughts again when he sat up, groaning loudly and clutching the side of his head.

"What the hell was _that _for?" he shouted furiously, staring daggers at her.

"What do you mean, 'What was that for?'? You're the one sneaking up behind people!" She retorted matter-of-factly, folding her arms coolly across her chest.

The raccoon suddenly began growling gutturally, notifying Rouge of his sudden ire.

"Swipe!"

A significantly younger male voice echoed through the dark wood. Suddenly, a young lemur, no older than ten or eleven, came crashing out of the treetops, landing on his hands and knees before crawling frantically over to the raccoon.

"Swipe!" He called again. "Are you okay, man?"

"Yeah, I'm okay…" Swipe replied, looking over at Rouge for a split second.

The bat watched as the lemur as warily as she did the raccoon – she knew people of that age _too _well to think that they were harmless. Fox kid, bunny, and that annoying bee were living proof. And she had an extremely big inkling that this kid was no different.

He was pure white except for his dyed orange tail stripes, which were almost neon in the light of the fire. He was clothed only with a similarly-colored shoes, bandana, and pair of goggles, which all depicted the same pattern on them.

"You're so mean, lady!" The lemur cried, snapping Rouge out of her trance-like state. "Why did you have to kick Swipe?"

"The more important question is, what was _Swipe_ doing trying to sneak up behind me?" The bat replied without missing a beat.

The two froze for a moment.

Before Rouge could comprehend what had happened, Swipe had risen to his feet and pulled a firearm out of seeming nowhere. The gun clicked once before he narrowed his sights on the bat in front of him.

"Bound, get behind me –" He motioned to the lemur before breathing in heavily. " – We need those Emerald shards." He stated plainly, gripping the handgun with both hands.

"Forget it." Rouge retorted. "You're not getting them. These gems belong to a friend of m – err, they belong to me. You won't be getting them from me."

"I don't think you get it, girl." Swipe warned, holding the gun steady. "I don't do the whole bluff thing. I have no problem with shooting you."

"Neither do I." Rouge stated plainly while slightly lifting her head. "I'm telling you, you're not getting them."

"You've made your choice." Swipe cocked the weapon. "Now die!"

Rouge watched Bound cover his ears and cower behind Swipe before widening her eyes.

"Wait." Rouge stated, reaching slowly for her small drawstring pack. "I'm sorry. I'll give you the shards."

Swipe lowered the gun a tad bit. "That's a good girl. Hand `em over."

"On one condition." Rouge added, which caused Swipe to straighten his back and cock an eyebrow. She smiled devilishly and placed one hand on her hip.

"The lemur comes and gets them from me." She wiggled the pack in her fingers, clinking a jingling reaching the ears of both of her attackers.

"Bound…?" Swipe repeated, looking to the young lemur, who had just recently covered his ears at the absence of a gunshot.

"That's right. Just send the kid over this way and I'll be happy to give them up." Rouge replied slyly.

"Bound. Go get the shards from her." Swipe motioned for his young partner to get up. Bound looked up at Swipe, a frightened look crossing his face for a moment before he stood, slowly stepping over toward the bat.

"But Swipe…" He stopped, turning and looking at the raccoon. "What if she kicks me and my head hurts too?"

"Then I'll pop `er fulla lead, Bound. It's okay. Just go."

"All right…"

Bound crept closer and reached slowly for the bag before quickly snatching it out of her hands and jumping behind the raccoon.

"You know, you're not as much of a challenge as I made you out to be." Swipe smiled, lowering his gun.

"And you're not as smart and conniving as I made _you _out to be." Rouge winked, folding her arms. Swipe flashed her a toothy grin before he and Bound disappeared into the dark wood.

The wind blew softly again and Rouge's grin widened. They'd be back soon enough.

She bent over to grab the animal skin pack that was on the ground by the tree she had leaned against. Shaking it slightly, she opened it to watch the light green emerald shards glint in the light of the still billowing fire.

So much for sleep tonight, she thought. She'd be too busy watching her back.

**Nexus: Haha, so there it is! FINALLY! I am apologizing again for it taking so long. You have no idea how busy I've been. D: **

**Anyway, Cherrle's up next with Chapter Eight! :D Look for it!**


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